Are Plastic Buckets Food Safe?
Whether you are trying to safely store food products in your commercial kitchen or in your own home, here is what you should look for if you are going to store food in a plastic bucket.
Can Plastic Buckets Safely Hold Food?
The simple answer – Yes! However, your plastic bucket must be FDA compliant to store food. This means the material and container meet the FDA’s guidelines for safe contact with food. It is important to look out for this compliance because non-FDA compliant items’ material will react to foods differently, or become lodged in crevices of the container.
A container is FDA approved when:
- Chemicals won’t seep into food
- High and low temperatures can be withstood
- They can withstand cleaning and sanitizing
For example, our EZ STOR CONTAINER will handle food without problems.
How Can You Tell If A Bucket Is Food Safe?
Here are some helpful symbols to look for to verify that your plastic bucket is safe. For a review on the different types of plastics read our last blog FDA Compliant Drums: What does it mean to be FDA compliant?
Buckets printed with the number 2 are made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE). These products are the best for long-term food storage as it is one of the most stable forms of plastic.
Plastic buckets that are sold specifically for storing food will probably be made from HDPE
Those that display the numbers 1, 4, and 5 are alternative types of food-grade plastic: PETE, LDPE, and polypropylene (PP) respectively.
Should You Use A Plastic Bucket for Food Storage?
Absolutely! When you have a large volume of food such as; a large batch of soup or restaurant supply of grains, plastic buckets with lids are perfect. They are airtight and when used correctly will protect your products.
Sun West Container offers many different products to help with containing food-related products.
Foodservice and storage
A container’s responsibility is to store products in a safe manner. Buckets that are not FDA compliant may affect the food in question because the containers consist of different chemicals. These chemicals will have direct contact with any foods. Uncertainty typically means you will benefit from an FDA compliant bucket, like our 3 GALLON EZ STOR PAIL.
Using a plastic bucket allows for easier storage, especially for longer periods. Safely tuck away the desired food with an appropriate lid from our pail lids section.
Dispensing Bottles
Dispensing bottles, like our ONE GALLON BOTTLE HAND PUMP, also need compliance when dealing with food. Once again, be aware of selecting a dispenser that contains this approval, along with the appropriate closure size. These bottles are helpful in dealing with food-related products because of the wide neck finishes.
Cylinder Bottles
Cylinder bottles, like our 8 OZ PLASTIC MODERN ROUND BOTTLE, are better suited to easily observe products while in a ready-to-go container. Not all cylinder bottles are approved, so be sure to select bottles that will meet the needed criteria. These containers provide strength to protect your products.
Shop our food service and storage, dispensing bottles, and cylinder bottles.
Need more information or help to place an order? Sun West’s highly qualified customer service representatives are here to answer your questions.